Chandigarh, Jul 17: For almost a decade, former national-level hockey player Amit Saroha has been wheelchair-bound, after a horrific a road accident in 2007 left him crippled.
The severe spine injury would have crushed many others, but didn’t deter Saroha from chasing his sporting dreams. The 32-year-old overcame the disability with a never-say-die attitude, and on Monday gave Indians a sporting moment to cherish.
The 32-year-old clinched silver medal in the club throw event in the F-51 category — below waist paraplegic category — at the ongoing World Para Athletics Championships in London. The event is the equivalent of the hammer throw, only para athletes throw a wooden club.
Saroha made amends for his disappointment in the 2016 Rio Paralympics, where he narrowly missed bronze. He produced his career best performance in London, hurling the club to 30.25m to set an Asian record as well.
Rio Paralympics champion Zeljko Dimitrijevic of Serbia retained the title with a world record throw of 31.99m. His compatriot Milos Mitic took bronze at 29.06m. “I was expecting a medal in the Rio Games, but somehow missed it by a few centimetres. For the last nine months, I was eagerly waiting for the world championships to make up for my Rio loss. Thankfully, I was able to do it today,” Saroha told HT after his event.
“This is my second medal in the world championships, but this one is special as I was able to increase my distance by around five metres from the 2015 edition, where too I got silver,” added the Arjuna awardee, who is assistant coach with the Haryana Sports Department.